Mario Kart Wii: Kinda Krap
By Tetris Maximus - July 3rd, 2008
After the initial joy of owning a new Mario Kart title wore off, I began to realize something sad. I’ve been playing this same game for years now. The first Mario Kart I owned, however, was the DS one. In fact, it was that and Animal Crossing Wild World that convinced me to get the system. I didn’t really spend much time with Mario Kart DS despite its portability because it was eclipsed by the fun I was having with Animal Crossing.
I picked up Mario Kart Wii – one of the few games I purchased this year – when friends of mine kept going on about how awesome it was. And indeed, the game is pretty cool. The problem is that it was also pretty cool for every previous Nintendo Console it’s been on. In the exact same way.
This time its main selling feature is the Wii Wheel, which I’m a huge fan of. The thing has a great heft to it and puts its predecessor, the Ubisoft racing wheel, to shame (then again, Ubisoft making something great is a rarity in itself, isn’t it?).
Now, weeks after its release, I’ve had some time to collect my thoughts on Mario Kart Wii and for the most part, I’m unimpressed.
When the Wii was first revealed, I fell for the hype. I really thought it would bring us great, amazing new games that could only be on the Wii and nothing else. So far, that dream (as it became) has been largely unfulfilled. I wanted more from the Wii, just as I wanted more from Mario Kart Wii. The Wii Wheel is a great peripheral, but why is it easier to play the game with the Classic Controller? Shouldn’t the mandate of the Wii be to introduce new ways of playing games? If so, why include compatibility with peripherals that are supposedly lower on the evolutionary scale? It doesn’t make sense yet it reflects Nintendo’s chosen direction for The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess. Rather than making a Wii-specific game, they just made a game with Wii controls added in.
And that’s what Mario Kart Wii feels like to me. As much fun as it is to race a bunch of friends and throw turtle shells at them, it’s not more fun than previous titles in the series. For a flagship title on a system that’s supposed to be innovative, the game fails because of this. Yeah, there’s the online modes and it is arguably the pinnacle achievement in Nintendo’s online approach (being able to see your friends are online first before starting up a game is nice and new to Nintendo, but nothing new to gaming). Even still, I always end up calling friends over the telephone to set up matches anyway.
Dare I even broach the topic that the gameplay is inherently flawed and seeks to punish good players with bad luck (and friggin’ cheating CPU players)? There’s nothing more frustrating than being in first place for an entire race only to be knocked the hell down in the last ten seconds and have eight computer players pass you at the same time.
God damn you, blue shell. I’ll see you in hell.
What you said about the way that Wii controls are just tacked onto games is exactly my problem with the Wii right now.
I really want the gimmick to stop being a gimmick. I want to see these motion controls executed and done in a meaningful way where it would be impossible to play the game without the motion controls. Is that asking too much?